国际英语新闻：Mass peace rallies held across N.Ireland after murders of soldiers

LONDON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday in Northern Ireland for mass rallies protesting the recent killing of two soldiers and a police officer.

    Silent vigils organized by trade unions took place across Northern Ireland in solidarity for peace.

    Two soldiers were fatally shot and four others injured last Saturday night in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

    The dissident republican group Real IRA faction has claimed responsibility for the killing .

    On Monday night, a Northern Ireland police officer was shot dead while on patrol in Craigavon, a town southwest of Belfast.

    A group called Continuity IRA later said so long as there is British involvement in Northern Ireland, incidents such as the killing would continue to happen.

    The killings have brought anger to the public in Northern Ireland, which has started to move forward after decades of conflicts.

    Peter Bunting, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said workers had to unite to ensure the peace process "was not derailed" by those with an "agenda of sectarianism", the BBC reported.

    British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that the rallies are evidence that the peace process "is here to stay and is working."

    Speaking in Parliament, Brown said everything possible would bed one to enhance security arrangements in the region.

    "We will leave no stone unturned in making sure that he has available to him all the arrangements necessary to enhance security there," he said.

    "We are seeing a unity which shows the determination that the whole of the people of Northern Ireland want not only to see justice done but to send a message that the political process is here to stay and is working," he said.

    Members of Parliament will also gather Wednesday afternoon for 15 minutes to show their support for the peace rallies.

    Meanwhile, the Sun newspaper has offered a reward of 100,000 pounds (140,000 U.S. dollars) for clues leading to the arrest of the killers.